Yakutsk Self-Government Elections During the First World War

Abstract

The paper provides the analysis of the city self-government structure and election process in Yakutsk. The purpose of this work was to comprehensively review the elections to the City Duma and City Council in Yakutsk during the First World War (1915–1917) and clarify the staff of the city self-government. The scientific novelty is that the staff of Yakutsk self-government and elections to the City Duma and City Council of 1915 are analyzed for the first time using such cognitive methods as historicism, objectivity, consistency, and complexity. Using a comparative-historical method made it possible to determine the cause-and-effect relations and regularities of the historical development of the phenomenon under study. The research revealed that during the elections of 1915, the citizens became more interested in the activities of the public self-government, as evidenced by the first pre-election meetings. The elected city self-government had a majority of officials. At the end of 1916, a project was developed to reorganize the city council office. That project was suggested to increase the complexity of functions and regulations and the number and staff of self-government structures and was to become the next stage in the development of Yakutsk public self-government. Practical relevance of the research is that the results of the study can be used for further study of the cities of Siberia. The article is intended for historians and everyone interested in the history of Yakutia. Keywords: city council, city duma, city regulation of 1892, city council members, election meeting, office of the city council